On Life, Love and the Pursuit of Happiness

Don’t believe the hype. I’ve watched every Super Bowl, and besides enjoying a few timeless games, I learned one thing. Immediately following the end of the NFC and AFC Championship games, trust your gut and pick the team you feel will win the Super Bowl.

If you are a betting Guy’s Guy, place your bets with friends or whoever as soon as Vegas posts the spread. The tricky part is…don’t change your mind.

It’s amazing how many tales are spun in the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. If you swallow all the hype served up during those fourteen days, you’ll be convinced that the Eagles are going to maul the Patriots. You might bet big on the Eagles—maybe even offer to give points. Don’t do that. The NFL and media-driven hype machine are powerful. Why? Follow the money. Over 110 million people watch the Super Bowl. That’s a lot of Pepsi and Doritos.The NFL’s marketing machine needs to create a narrative that generates interest and drama in the game to attract a monster audience for its biggest event of the year. If you’re a sports fan, you know that the NFL’s ratings are down. They need a really big viewer turnout this Sunday night to protect their image.

Putting the hype machine aside, your Guy’s Guy is setting things straight by sharing five reasons why the Eagles won’t win the big game. For context, I’d like nothing more than the New England dynasty to end dramatically this week. I attended Villanova University for my undergraduate studies, and after living four years on the Main Line, I came to respect the Eagles for their grit and heart. I hope they win their first Super Bowl. But they won’t. Here’s why:

1. The Eagles defense is strong, but… There has been so much written about the speed, strength, and surge of Philly’s interior defense. The pundits tell us the way to beat Tom Brady is pressure up the middle, and that’s exactly what Philly’s Fletcher Cox led D-line does so well. What they don’t tell us is that a few weeks ago Eli Manning, QB of this year’s woefully bad New York Giants, passed for 429 yards as he shredded the Eagles porous secondary. Malcolm Jenkins is Philly’s lone star in the secondary. He won’t be enough to hold down a scrappy group of Patriot receivers and the massive Rob Gronkowski at tight end.

2. New England’s underrated defense and offensive line – Like I said,we’re hearing all about the ferociousness of Philly’s pass rush and defensive front line, but nothing about a Patriot offensive line. Let’s not forget that in the AFC Championship game, the vaunted Jaguar defense was sealed off and remained on their heels throughout the second half. The Pats have a stout offensive line that usually knows how to protect Tom Brady. The other thing we’re not hearing much about is New England’s underrated defense, led by coach Matt Patricia. This group improved as the season progressed and let up a total of just 80 points in their last five games. Patricia is a whiz at shutting down his opponent’s top two offensive weapons. His schemes take them right out of the game. The Eagles do have decent running backs and wide receivers. They are balanced, but they have no real superstars on offense. They will have trouble scoring points. That projects a Patriot win if they score over seventeen points against Philly. They will.

3. Nick Foles – I was one of the numbskulls who bought into the Nick Foles hype when he replaced Carson Wentz after his injury. As a result, I lost my fantasy football championship when Foles only scored nine fantasy points in a December night game after the Raiders had been eliminated. Wentz, the Eagles starter, is a young stud QB. He is not easily replaced. Nick Foles is a capable journeyman who had a handful of eye-opening performances and some major duds. I don’t see him outdueling arguably the greatest quarterback of all time on the biggest stage he’s ever been on. A lot of people are wondering which Nick Foles will show up on Sunday. Your Guy’s Guy says it will be the run of the mill journeyman who throws two interceptions after seeing his trusty tight end, Zach Ertz, covered like a blanket.

4. Tom Brady – GOAT? It’s hard to argue against it, but he’s had a few strokes of luck in past Super Bowls against Seattle, and most recently Atlanta. And, he’s forty years old. That’s not enough reason for me to bet against him. He might be this year’s Most Valuable Player and his passing is as accurate as ever. How can you bet against this guy? I’m not. I say he throws three touchdown passes on Sunday.

5. Belechick – GOAT? Arguably. Bill Belechick is not a guy I’d ever root for. He abandoned the Jets, has been caught cheating, and comes across as miserable and kind of a dick. But, he’s a winner and he’s proven he will do anything to win. The Eagles are not a complicated team. They have good balance, pride, and a burning desire to avenge their loss in the 2004 Super Bowl to this same Patriot team. It would be nice if they won. But they don’t have enough weapons. They run a predictable, conservative game plan, and have a second string QB. They cannot afford to make mistakes this week. That does not add up to the Lombardi Trophy.

So there you have it, the cold hard truth about Sunday’s big game. It’s going to be another painful-to-watch victory for the Patriots, unless you are a Patriot fan. Most fans will be pulling for an upset. Sorry, it isn’t happening. Not with Nick Foles at the helm. Maybe next year though…

Final score New England 30 Philadelphia 20, and only due to a let game surge by the Eagles.

This week’s Guys’ Guys of the Week are the New England Patriots. Yikes, it was painful to type that, but a Guy’s Guy means being a good sport, having integrity and recognizing greatness. This is a great team that knows how to adjust during the game and almost always find a way to win.

Books can be powerful teachers. The special ones are just as influential as the most important people in our lives. I have been a voracious reader my entire life and cannot think of a time when I wasn’t in the process of devouring another book. Every book I’ve read has influenced me in some way, but a few stand out for their lessons and how they impacted my life. Some of them are funny, some are sad, but each one shares key insights and lessons on how to face this thing we call life. With this I mind, I’d like to share ten books that made a mark on my thinking, my knowing, and my life. I hope you will check a few of them out and see if you connect with them the way they connected with me. Here goes, in no particular order, the first five books in what I am calling – The Guys’ Guy’s Guide to Ten Books with Ten Life Lessons.

1. I AM THE WORD – Paul Selig – Sometimes you enter a bookstore to seek out a book you’ve heard about or have been looking for. Other times the book finds you. This book, by channel and empath, Paul Selig, caught my eye while I was biding time, waiting for my wife to buy crystals at a new age store off Fifth Avenue and 14th Street in New York. I Am The Word is the first in a series of five channeled texts (more are on the way) from a group of Guides that work through Paul. Selig describes himself as a radio frequency that picks up communications from the Guides that focus on man’s vibrational frequency and ascension. I had to read this book a few times before the message took root in my consciousness.

What did I learn? Simple. After reading Selig’s books, I now recognize every person who crosses my path as an aspect of the Divine Source. When you start there, amazing things happen.

2. POST OFFICE – Charles Bukowski – Many people who’ve seen the movie Barfly think that Bukowski was simply a humorous drunk. But he was much more. Bukowski grew up in an abusive household where he survived regular beatings from his father. When he was of age to leave, he wandered around California and then all of America, working sporadically in odd jobs like in a pickle factory before returning home to make his mark as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. He is an amazing poet, as well as a talented essayist and novelist. Post Office is a novel. It’s a fictional depiction of his years toiling as a mail clerk before finally quitting his job at age 49 to write full-time on the advice of the publisher of Black Sparrow Press. All of Bukowski’s books are truthful, funny, and sad at the same time.

What did I learn? As an aspiring writer and a fellow human being who deals with pain and rejection like we all do, Bukowski’s works and writing skills both fascinated and inspired me to never stop following my dream no matter what obstacles confronted me.

3. MANCHILD IN THE PROMOISED LAND – Claude Brown – My older brother is a big reader also, so there were always books bursting from the small set of wooden shelves in the bedroom where we grew up. I was not even ten years old when I picked up his copy of Claude Brown’s tome about growing up in the very rough edges of Harlem in the fifties. This was the first serious book that I’d come across and I still recall it to this day. Junkies, pimps, whores, beatings and death splatter the pages of this incredible personal story of loss and redemption and triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds. Brown describes a world that I knew nothing about.

What did I learn? I began to see the world from beyond my cushy suburban perspective and wanted to learn more about what too many people have to go through to survive and grow. And who knew? Now I live in Harlem.

4. STORY – Robert McKee – If you want to write, you need to find your voice and learn the craft. McKee’s book is considered the bible of screenwriting and of the art of crafting a story. I’ve always had a vivid imagination and penchant for creating characters and conflict, but until I read Story and attended a few of McKee’s seminars I’d never fully grasped the components that make up the engine of a good story.

What did I learn? I learned a lot from McKee, but the key takeaway was that a successful story consists of a main character that really wants something and faces an escalating set of obstacles to overcome before he can get it. Sounds simple? Try it sometime.

5. BALL FOUR – Jim Bouton – When I was sixteen I wrote a novella called, Off The Bench about our high school baseball team. I’d always been a good athlete and ballplayer, but by the time I reached my junior year I found myself riding the pines more often than I preferred. I used this time to observe my coaches and teammates, and the state of our team in a time following our coach’s death from a fishing accident and having the school’s legendary football coach taking over. Bouton’s book about the New York Yankees had come out the previous year, and it made a mark on me. He wrote the first behind the scenes tell-all about a professional sports team. And he made headlines when he aired out the behind the scenes shenanigans during the rise and fall of the Yankees teams of the sixties. It was a fun, rollicking, and eye-opening romp.

What did I learn? After devouring this well-written book, I wanted to write more than ever. Bouton inspired me to write what I knew, to tell the truth, and make it fun.

Those are my first five books that taught me real life lessons. I think you can figure out why I enjoy reading so much and what it has meant to me over the years. I’ll be back in a week and I’ll reveal five more great books that provided some lasting lessons. Until then, enjoy the weather and bring a book along wherever you go.

Guess what? We've still got another week of summer left. Let’s stay positive and recognize a handful of reasons why September is a great month and fall is a great season, Guy’s Guy style.

Farewell, tourists.

As a fan of the beach and the Jersey Shore, nothing pleases local inhabitants and beachgoers more than the disappearance of what are referred to as “Bennies”, tourists from northern NJ who come down the shore, go crazy and then leave after Labor Day. More parking spaces, no waits at restaurants and fewer drunken dudes from Staten Island pounding shots of bubbleberry vodka all make up the fall dream. The same can be said about the overload of summer tourists in fanny packs clogging our NYC sidewalks. Have a nice day and goodbye.

The weather rocks.

It’s summer for three more weeks, amigos. The beach is empty, the temp's perfect, the water warm and clean and it usually stays this way through October. In the city, the days are spectacular and the nights are no longer hot and humid.

The Women.

In NYC, the women’s fashion parade begins in full swing in September and for a Guy’s Guy, it can be heavenly. Women in NYC have style and go to great lengths putting together cool outfits. Beyond their $400 jeans and designer dresses, Manhattan women have made an art of putting together their hair, shoes, and bags and the results are pleasurable to the eyes of any Guy’s Guy. It’s all in the details, so let's give it up for the ladies.

Sports.

The baseball season is rounding third base and heading for home while at the same time football and the accompanying fantasy football drafts are in full swing, making this the best time of the year for sports. Football has never been so popular and fantasy football has taken the game to a new level of fandemonium. Let’s face it—football is built for television viewing and now is the time to get our fill. And let’s not forget the US Open tennis and the NYC Marathon.

The Arts.

Film, books,television, the Met, the museums, Broadway and even the dreaded DWTS all kick off new seasons at this time of year.

Okay, these are but a few obvious reasons why they we can say “yay” to the end of summer. What I like about September and the new season is that it reminds me how each day is a new beginning filled with new opportunities. If we live in the now and focus on what can be, and tune out the media’s incessant ringing of the doom and gloom alarm, we can savor life as it’s meant to be, one beautiful day at a time. And then we can watch the holiday sales ads.

Are you saddened over the end of summer or pumped up for the fall?

This week's Guy's Guy of the Week is Sir Thomas More, an old school 16th century Guy's Guy, and the subject of the Oscar-winning, "A Man for All Seasons."

If I want to see someone run,
hide, grab, hug, and disappear, I might as well buy a ticket to David
Copperfield or Dancing With The Stars. Manny Pacquaio is a trusting
soul. And that’s his problem. He works in the unregulated cesspool
of a boxing industry and leaves important details like being injured
before the fight to his slippery promoters to handle. We now know
that he had a torn rotator cuff going into the fight. So why did his
team not reveal his injury until afterwards? Money, that’s why.
This is only the tip of the iceberg why this mega-hyped event was a
sham that will send the sport of boxing back twenty years.

Many of us Guy’s Guys are boxing
fans, so when this long overdue fight was finally announced in
February, people all over the world were ecstatic. In one corner we
had the slick, undefeated American with a bad reputation as a human
being. Mayweather is an unrepentant, convicted women-beater. He’s
also brash, arrogant, and greedy. And, he’s a peerless defensive
wizard in the ring who has never lost a professional fight.

In the other corner we had PacMan, the
born-again Filipino. Pacquaio is a fighter with an untarnished
personal reputation. He has shown quickness, aggressiveness and
courage in the ring and humility and generosity outside of it. We had
a perfect bad guy versus good guy storyline for the fight. The
prospects were even brighter from a tactical perspective. PacMan is a
hard-working southpaw who usually throws one hundred punches per
round. Mayweather is the slick tactician who focuses more on not
getting hit than dishing out punishment to his foe. He is fast and
elusive to a fault. The paying public wants to see two guys mixing it
up, not dancing inside the squared circle. All in all, we had the
makings of a classic matchup, even for the casual fan. Good guy
versus bad guy. Lefty versus righty. Speed versus power. But, that’s
not the way it turned out, amigos. Let’s take a closer look at the
fight and the two combatants.

Mayweather - Make no mistake
about it, this guyis lightning fast and elusive.He
scooted around the ring and made keeping PacMan at bay look easy.
Although I am a fan of the Filipino, there is no way PacMan won the
fight, as some have suggested. That said; the problems with Floyd’s
victory were many. First, he obviously knew that Pacquaio was damaged
goods. He zinged him in torn rotator cuff and landed a number of lead
right hands. But, he never hurt PacMan. Not even a little bit. The
word is that Floyd’s team knew about Pacquaio’s injury
beforehand. If true, why did Floyd devote most of his time running
around the ring, grabbing and holding instead of exchanging and going
in for the knockout? Some argue boxing is about scoring points and
not getting hit. This is correct, but only to a point. Running,
grabbing and holding tarnishes an already tarnished sport. No one
wants to see this. Fans pay to see two professional combatants mix it
up and inflict some damage. And, that’s what this fight lacked.
There was little action. Ironically, the loser generated most of the
action. PacMan slowly pawed his way around the ring while Floyd
scored some light jabs and right hands and then ran or held his
opponent in a headlock. From a viewing standpoint, this made the
fight suck. I put that on Mayweather. Beyond his running to avoid
contact, he proved once again to be a dirty fighter. He repeatedly
clutched, grabbed and pushed down on PacMan. He also used his
forearms, elbows, and sides of his gloves, all which are illegal
tactics. And, Mayweather’s handpicked referee did nothing to stop
the misconduct.

Pacquaio – Dude, if you are
not at 100%, postpone the fight. PacMan lost a ton of cred by
stepping into the ring in less than top condition and not letting us
know. If you are hurt, you are hurt. Just say so. When you step
inside the ring for a bout of this magnitude at anything less than
100%, you will be rightly accused of just taking the money. And, it’s
understandable. Fans paid top dollar for the pay per view and bet big
time on this fight. Pacquaio should have provided full disclosure.
His team did not claim the shoulder injury on his prefight medical
form, although they did cop to his taking painkillers throughout
camp. Why did they do this? Why didn’t the state boxing commission
ask about this? Who knows?

As a result, PacMan was denied a
pre-fight dose of painkillers and even his Vitamin Water. Yet, we saw
Mayweather drinking Gatorade. And only after the fight did the paying
public find out PacMan had a torn right rotator cuff. Maybe this
explains why PacMan threw far fewer punches than usual and appeared
to coast through most of the bout. This did not look like the Manny
Pacquaio than we have been accustomed to seeing in the ring. Some say
it was because Mayweather is so much faster and skilled. That may be
true to a point. But I think most people would agree that it appeared
that something was wrong with PacMan from the very first round.

So with a trail of dissatisfied Guy’s
Guys and fight fans left on the curb with $100 bucks less in their
pockets, what else could be worse? The rematch, of course. See you in
2016.

This week’s Guys’ Guys of the
Week are the two men who filed a class action suit about
misrepresentation of PacMan’s status before the fight.

Boxing is far from dead. Say what you
want about Ronda Rousey and the meteoric rise of the MMA. Nothing the
MMA has done to date compares to the buzz and mega-dollars generated
from a major boxing match.

Every generation has its super fights.
In the 20th Century we had Louis-Schmeling II, Ali-Frazier
I, and possibly Leonard-Hagler. Fifteen years into the 21st
Century a new super-fight has finally materialized.
Mayweather-Pacquaio has been talked about, planned, avoided,
dismantled, discussed and then suddenly agreed to about eight weeks
ago. Long in the making, but hastily thrown together, this bout will
prove to be the richest in the history of the sport, and the stakes
have never been higher for these two great fighters. Floyd Mayweather
is 47-0. He is a brilliant ring tactician. Fast, elusive, and an
astute ring general, he is a once-in-a-generation fighter. His
opponent, Manny Pacquaio, is a title-holder in eight weight classes,
a fighter of the decade, and a whirlwind force of nature. He’s a
southpaw that attacks ferociously from all angles with a blur of
punches. He hits like a howitzer and has the speed in his hands and
feet to move in and out of the pocket leaving devastating results.

The two pugilists have been circling
one another for the past five years. Many thought they would never
fight until the deal was finally consummated in late February. Some
say Mayweather has been avoiding his Filipino rival because he did
not want to risk a potential loss on his perfect record. Maybe so,
but he did sign on and put his unbeaten streak is on the line. And,
for a cool $99, you, too, can watch it in HD. Despite the exorbitant
price, between 2.5 and 3 million households are expected to purchase
the bout on cable.

My grandfather was a professional boxer
so I grew up with an appreciation of this brutal sport. There is
something beautiful and pure about boxing that many Guy’s Guys
appreciate. It’s as real as it gets. There are just two combatants
in the ring. No shoulder pads, facemasks, or numbered jerseys. And
the ring is way smaller than it looks on television. The equipment
consists of two fists wrapped in gauze and squeezed inside 8 oz.
leather gloves. There is a referee and three ringside judges to keep
score and determine the outcome of the fight if it goes the distance.
That’s it, amigos. Boxing is about truth. So let’s take a closer
look into Mayweather-Pacquaio, Guy’s Guy style.

Speed – There are two types of
speed in boxing— hand speed and
foot speed. Both men have blazing hand speed. Pac-Man, as Pacquiao is
called, has the edge in foot speed. He is a southpaw who darts in and
out from a variety of angles. He has been compared to an annoying fly
that won’t stay away. Mayweather has incredibly quick hands and is
a precise counterpuncher. Most folks think he can catch Pac-Man as he
works his way inside. But Floyd has had trouble with lefties and has
been vulnerable to the straight left and right hooks from southpaws
he’s fought. It’s one of the reasons some say he delayed the
taking this fight.

Can a whirling dervish moving forward
in a serpentine fashion break a seemingly impenetrable defense and
avoid crisp hard shots from a bigger man? Manny may be able to work
his way into the pocket, but he could get popped along the way. Can
he deflect those shots enough to score some of his own and soften up
Floyd? Maybe. Edge: even.

Power – Although Mayweather is
the larger man, he is not known for his power. That said, many pros
say that Floyd’s power is underestimated. Pacquiao hits like a
mule, but he’s smaller. Although they are both champions in
multiple weight classes, neither fighter has scored a legitimate
knockout during the past three years. Maybe it’s because Mayweather
is 38 and Pac-Man is 36 now. Still, Manny has starched common
opponents Miguel Cotto and Oscar De La Hoya. On the flip side, Floyd
easily beat Juan Marquez while Pacquiao ran into his right hand and
was knocked out cold a few years ago during their fourth fight. Some
say that Marquez had 44 rounds, two losses and a disputed draw to
sort out Manny’s tendencies. The question is: can Floyd figure
Manny out in one night? It’s possible, but not a given, even for a
mastermind at adjustments like Mayweather. Edge: Pacquiao

Ring Generalship – Both
fighters usually set the pace and force their opponents to fight
their fight. Can Mayweather bully the smaller Pacquiao around after
making the necessary tweaks following what are expected to be a
frenetic first few rounds? If Pac-Man tires and Mayweather starts
picking him apart, it will be a long evening for the congressman.
Pac-Man’s best chance is to set a fast tempo and win individual
rounds versus going balls out for a knockout. Like Mike Tyson once
said though, “even the best strategy goes out the window once
you’ve been hit”. Edge: Mayweather

Character – Since this is the
Guy’s Guy take, I wanted to include a deeper glimpse of the two
main characters in the story. Floyd Mayweather is not a Guy’s Guy.
He is a convicted women beater who once said about Pacquaio, “Once
I stomp the midget, I’ll make the motherf—ker make me a sushi
roll and cook me some rice.” How’s that for winning friends and
influencing people? I’m somewhat surprised that the press has not
made more of this tirade, but at least we have our villain. Floyd is
also known for hitting off the break, sucker punching, and using his
forearms and elbows when it suits him. He also has the deck stacked
in his favor in the choice of venue, referee and judges. But, since
he is considered the A-side of the bout’s marketing, he has earned
those privileges.

Pacquaio, on the other hand, is a
reformed sinner, and a born-again Christian, who wants to pray with
Mayweather following their fight. He is likeable, a bad singer, and a
congressman and icon in his native Philippines. This diametric
opposition in personas makes for compelling television, kids. I think
we know who gets the check mark here, but to be fair, both men have
shown courage and fortitude in the ring. Between his sushi roll duty,
Pacquiao assures us that, “God will deliver him to my hands”.
Something to watch for which brings us to…

Prediction - Most boxing pundits
are picking Mayweather by a 12 round decision. It’s hard to argue
with a consistent result over the past decade of Mayweather fights.
He’s bigger, he has a longer reach, he’s smart as hell, fast, and
very hard to hit. He has made his opponents look foolish by deploying
brilliant strategy and in-fight adjustments.

But, for some reason that only he
knows, Mayweather has arguably avoided this long-overdue match up.
Now that the fight is here, Pacquiao appears confident, focused, and
driven. During the stare-down at yesterday’s press conference, he
actually giggled as he looked into Floyd’s sneer. I like that. And
I’ll always take the guy with fire in his belly that desperately
wants to win over a guy who does not want to lose. No one is
unbeatable, and with the brilliant Freddy Roach in his corner to keep
him on track, I see a fearless Manny Pacquiao setting a fast pace,
taking an early lead in rounds and withstanding an increasingly
desperate Floyd Mayweather’s attempts to close the gap. I think
Pacquiao will score an early knockdown and possibly even survive a
late knockdown in what will be a brutal, close fight with a
controversial 12-round decision going to the Pac-Man. This of course,
sets up a rematch in November.

My Guy’s Guy of the Week is my
grandfather, Thomas Oresti Neggia, who fought under the name, Tough
Tommy. I was told that he was undefeated in the ring, until he
met my grandmother who insisted that he retire from boxing if he
wanted to win her hand. And he did.

I’ve watched every Super Bowl.
That’s all forty-eight broadcasts, so the NFL must be doing
something right. Over the past half century, the big game has
grown into a global media juggernaut and it’s arguably the largest
singular sporting contest on Earth. Every subsequent year since 1969
and Super Bowl III when Joe Willie Namath guaranteed victory for the
18 1/2-point underdog New York Jets (really) before taking down the
Baltimore Colts 16-7, the Super Bowl has grown steadily in stature
and grandeur. What was once a simple grind-it-out championship
football game played on a neutral field has turned into a spectacle
that provides viewers of all ages and genders something to marvel at.

This year the reigning champion Seattle
Seahawks face the New England Patriots. The buzz has been about New
England’s history of purportedly shady practices and the recent
revelation that 11 out 12 of the footballs they used in the AFC
Championship game were found to be under-inflated. So, this one may
be remembered as the “Deflategate” Super Bowl. It should be a
great game though, pitting Tom Brady and New England’s high-powered
offense against Seattle’s “Legion of Boom” defense. I’ll take
the Patriots 24-17 as they control the ball and the clock for most of
the game. But when in comes to the Super Bowl, you never know what
surprises may lay in store. An improbable hero, a botched call by the
refs, a phenomenal catch that changes the fate of a team forever.
It’s all on the line this Sunday. The halftime show features pop
star Katy Perry with Lenny Kravitz and there is already buzz about
some of this year’s controversial ads.

Please allow your Guy’s Guy to walk
you through a number of the reasons why us Guy’s Guys, and just
about everybody else puts their snarkiness aside for a few hours this
Sunday and vibes with this annual over-the-top event.

1. The Stakes.

Unlike the World Series and the NBA
Finals, the Super Bowl is one game. Sure, the NCAA finals and World
Cup also come down to one game, but neither has the marketing panache
of the Super Bowl. Unless you were from Argentina or Germany, did you
really care who won the World Cup? In the NCAA March Madness
tournament, by the time it gets to the finals, do you really care
which college superpower wins another title? That said, it everyone
has an opinion and a rooting interest in the Super Bowl. One reason
is that unlike other championship games, the press devotes and
incredible amount of space during an otherwise bleak last two-weeks
of January on the big game. The hype is without peer and from food to
fashion; it permeates many facets of our culture.

2. Half Time.

No other sporting event can boast the
spectacle of a Super Bowl Halftime Show. It is an event in itself.
Music’s top stars including The Rolling Stones, The Who, Madonna,
Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul McCartney have all performed to
an audience of close to one billion viewers worldwide. Each act is
tasked with putting on a thrilling show in twenty minutes, and most
have succeeded. I’ve attended two Super Bowls. The first one was in
1993, pitting the Dallas Cowboys against the Buffalo Bills. Seeing
the young Cowboys reclaim their reputation as America’s Team by
upsetting the revered Bill 52-17 was a personal thrill. Our halftime
show at the Rose Bowl featured Michael Jackson. You can’t get
bigger than that. Let’s see if this year, Katy Perry has the chops
to deliver a Super Bowl worthy performance.

3. The Ads.

I’m a marketer and ad guy by trade,
so I’m fascinated by the overblown Super Bowl ads for commodity
products like mass-produced beer, soft drinks, fast food, salty
snacks, and tires, and the reactions we hear from the viewers. The
ads people usually recall are the ones that they liked. Ironically,
advertisers and the tests new campaigns go through before they get
produced usually overlook “likeability” as a variable. Too often
the testing focuses only on an ad’s ability to communicate the
brand strategy. It’s no wonder why so many ads these days are so
flat-footed. I call these ads, “stratecutions”. During the Super
Bowl, though, many brands take risks by investing in over-the-top
productions for the return of a “buzz” factor that can spark and
carry a brand’s sales momentum throughout the year.

4. The Parties.

Most people I know have their own game
plan for the big game. Maybe they are having friends and family over,
or a bunch of guys get together to grill and drink, or a group of
colleagues put out a spread while they chit chat during the game
before locking in the ads and halftime show before heading home. By
now the consumer’s involvement in their own festivities, food, and
drink have become a new tradition rivaling Thanksgiving.

5. Winter Sucks.

Let’s face it. In a good portion of
our country the weather in January is at best dismal. Here in New
York, the city has been awash with hues of gray, brown and black
since Thanksgiving, with little hope for change anytime soon. And
after the big game, February’s greets an unwelcoming population
with more cold, slushy days. If you are a sports fan, you most likely
experience a football hangover after the game that lasts until March
Madness which six weeks from now. That’s a long time, amigo. But,
New Yorkers are tough and scrappy. Somehow, we find new ways to get
through this sports drought, even if it means watching a Nets game.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The Super Bowl is big business and lots of money changes hands from
all the betting. Who hasn’t bought a box or two in the company
pool? The bottom line is that Sunday marks a special day that we now
collectively celebrate every year. It really doesn’t matter who
wins. Super Bowl Sunday is more about our experience and how we share
this cultural phenomenon with our friends, colleagues and loved ones.
And don’t forget the guacamole.

This week’s Guys’ Guys of the
Week are the players and coaching staffs of the New England Patriots
and Seattle Seahawks. After all, this is a football game, and
without their hard work from training camp through January, there
would be no Super Bowl. Congrats to both squads and let the best team
win.

Major League Baseball is entering its annual pennant chase, tennis’s US Open has taken center stage in New York, and another NFL season is about to kick off.From what was once limited to a few football crazies to a mainstay in every office and group of friends across America, fantasy football has taken our sports-centric culture by storm.

I’m not a licensed fantasy football expert, but I’ve played and succeeded in a league for close to twenty years now. Whether you are a Guy’s Guy or Girl’s Guy, here are a few nuggets to get you off to a good start this season.

What League is best for you?

Although there are many league options including auctions, PPR (points per reception), and ten to fourteen team leagues, far and away the most popular leagues are made up of twelve teams. Most have no or limited keepers and feature a snake draft where team one selects first in the round one, then last in the second round, and so on. Each week your team is pitted against another, and for the next thirteen weeks you play head to head until the playoffs. Each team plays two running backs (RB), one quarterback (QB), two wide receivers (WR), one flex player (RB, WR or TE), one tight end (TE), one team defense (D), and one kicker (K).

Strategy.

Although the rules of the NFL have evolved over the past decade to favor passing and scoring, running backs are still a key consideration for your early picks. Many pro teams have shifted to committee backfields that deploy multiple running backs. This makes drafting at least one “bell weather” RB early on a team that prefers running the ball critical. Many experts consider drafting a top quarterback or wide receiver as viable early first round options. I suggest you consider position scarcity and select a running back and possibly even a second one in rounds two and/or three. The WR pool is deep and unless you can grab one of the top four QB’s you are better off grabbing a top RB. I assure you, the starting RB’s will be taken a lot earlier than you’d expect.

I like to grab a few WR’s and then zone in on my QB and TE. The way I look at it is although you draft a base team of sixteen players, along with a few injury slots, you can only play one set of players in the aforementioned positions each week. So even though there are “bye” weeks for each team, you’re still going to play your go-to/top players almost every week. That means you need to focus on filling out your starting team before stacking your bench. Well, at least that’s how I see it. And, every draft takes on a life of its own, so invariably a top player or two falls through the cracks and becomes available later than you expected. If this is the case, grab him. After all it’s only fantasy football.

Quarterbacks: Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford are studs worth taking early. If you wait there are a number of viable options including Matt Ryan, Tony Romo, Nick Foles, Colin Kaepernick, and Russell Wilson. Some reaches to consider are Phil Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, and Carson Palmer. I’d avoid this year’s rookies. I really don’t have a QB philosophy beyond considering their past accomplishments, team’s offensive philosophy, and their injury history.

Running Backs: There are a handful of studs worth choosing if you have the opportunity to take them in the first round. These include Lesean McCoy, Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, and Jamaal Charles. I also like up and comers including LeVeon Bell, Montee Ball, Eddie Lacy, and Andre Ellington to step up as future keepers. If possible, I’d steer clear away from injury-prone Adrian Foster, CJ Spiller, and RB’s I consider less than top shelf including Freddie Morris, Gio Bernard, and Ben Tate. Again, consider stocking up on RB’s early because they go fast and you don’t want to be left without at least one top runner.

Wide Receivers: There are a lot to choose from, so have fun with these picks. Beyond the top five of superstars— Demarius Thomas, Calvin Johnson, Dez Bryant, AJ Green, Brandon Marshall, there are numerous options. Alshon Jeffries, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Keenan Allen, Pierre Garcon, Antonio Brown, and Vincent Jackson should all be on your target list. It seems like every year more than a handful of overlooked WR’s turn into fantasy stars due to a combination of talent and injuries. When looking at “sleepers” consider up and comers C. Patterson, K. Wright, TY Hilton, and even E. Decker. Towards the latter stages of the draft, I like to load up on WR’s, again because the pool is deep and there are many that become stars that are worth keeping for future seasons, if your league offers that option.

Tight Ends: This is a feast or famine position. Unless you can grab J. Graham, J. Thomas, or V. Davis, you are better off waiting. Each NFL team has a different philosophy on deploying this position so you need to do your research to be successful. This is also a position where first year players have a hard time breaking through and getting balls thrown their way.

Defense: Unless you can grab Seattle or San Francisco early, it might be better to wait. I’ve checked a variety of syndicated resources and the other picks are all over the place. I like Denver and New Orleans because both teams have shored up their defenses and have explosive offenses that will keep limit the amount of time their defenses need to spend on the field.

Kickers: Unless you can get New England’s Gostkowski, wait until the very end of the draft. NFL kickers are talented and the majority is serviceable from a fantasy perspective. Try and select a K who plays for a high scoring tem, preferably that plays indoors.

That should get you thinking and hopefully off to a good start. Everyone has his or her preferred strategy and players they like. That’s part of the fun. Keep it light and by do your best. One more tip— try to not get upset over league rules, etc. You may not like every rule, but try to remember that crafting a league charter is not easy.

Are you ready for some fantasy football?

This week’s Guy’s Guys of the Week is Bill Winkenbach, a part owner of the Oakland Raiders. In 1963, he sketched out in a hotel room what has become the template for what is now fantasy football, our cultural phenomenon.